Fr. Bill's Orthodox Blog – Orthodoxy from the Third Coast
Saints, Seasons, Society, Sins, plus Travels mostly to Greece and who knows what next? by Father Bill Olnhausen
So Jesus’ birth was the result of Mary’s being raped by a Roman soldier?! That is the suggestion of Elaine Pagels, Professor of Religion at Princeton, University. * The evidence for this is… You’re right. There isn’t any. As for the Christmas stories? They, she says, are only “metaphors”. Metaphors for what? That’s not clear. […]
Read More »Notice above: In iconography for this Feast, the Virgin Mary is always depicted symbolically as a three year old “adult”, already full-grown spiritually. Before we talk about this lovely celebration, first let’s demolish a couple of objections to it. 1 It’s not Scriptural. This is the big Protestant objection. It troubled me before I became […]
Read More »During August, we’re doing reruns of a few of the more popular Posts from years past – very slightly revised. Last week we saw how often the Virgin Mary is mentioned in the New Testament. Nobody except her Son comes close. Then… well, go back and read it for yourself. We stopped in the middle […]
Read More »My mind is taking August off. We’re repeating some of the most popular Posts from previous years, improved just a bit. Those of you who were raised Orthodox or Roman Catholic cannot imagine how hard it was for most of us former Protestants to accept the Mother of God. I know, because when we try […]
Read More »Here are two saints commemorated together on May 16. However, other than that they could not be more different. One a little girl called Home early. The other a builder and adventurer, forever on the move. Blessed Musa of Rome This is a story both very sad and very beautiful. Musa lived in Rome in […]
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